More Scottish Fleet Additions

[davidfowler2000]

So as most of you will already know from the SVM Industries Press Release last week, there was yet another ridiculous vehicle movement at the weekend which has resulted in a double deck bus moving from Essex to Scotland.
 
It started out smoothly but there were problems on the northbound departure which held it all back and with Chumly seemingly not letting it in, it all had to be done in a day. Here is the account, in my usual style, of what happened:
 
Main Article - The Collection Trip
 
05/09/15, 0500, The House
Time to leave. The method of getting from my house to Purfleet is a drive, a flight, 2 trains, a walk and a lift so in what is beomcing the stardard for a Scottish autoshite movement, I drive to cms206's house and walk to the airport. The flight is at 0650, gate close at 0620.
 
05/09/15, 0620, Glasgow International Plane Station Gate 7C
After an unexpectedly long journey through security, I finally arrive at the gate. Just in time to get seated. Scheduled departure is 0650 with a 0810 arrival at Stansted.
 

 
05/09/15, 0700, Glasgow International Plane Station Gate 7C
We're still here but thankfully the plane is making noises so I think we're gonna be heading.
 

 
I had planned to sit back and snooze seeing as I had been out 'till 2230 the previous evening with a few guys from my old work having an Indian curry. I'm beginning to think this may have been a bad idea. Anyways it turns out to be an exceptionally lovely morning so I just had to get a few snaps of Loch Lomond and the surroundings on takeoff.
 

 

 

 
05/09/15, 0810, Stansted Airport
 

 
Next task is to find out if I can use the train for free with my temporary ScotRail staff pass seeing as ScotRail and Stansted Express (Greater Anglia Trains) are now both run by abellio. A few folk were asked and it came back a yes. WINNAR!
 
05/09/15, 0935, London Liverpool Street Station
Thanks abellio. Thabellio.
 

 

 
That's another leg of the journey done. The next task is to get the train to Purfleet which leaves from Fenchurch Street Station. It's only a 10 minute walk so I go to the toilet and head off.
 

A famous landmark was encountered on the way.
 
05/09/15, 0950, London Fenchurch Street Station
 

 
Having successfully navigated from one side of a standard British Monopoly board to another, I set about getting a snack and a ticket to Purfleet. The train is at 1005 so plenty time.
 

 
Unfortunately the trains down this way are NatEx c2c so no freebies on this one. That said it's only 7 quid whereas the ticket from Stansted to Purfleet would have been 29 so I'm already 22 quid up. On the journey to Purfleet we went right past the arse of Ford Dagenham which seemed rather desolate. Unfortunately I was sitting on the wrong side of the train to get a snap.
 
05/09/15, 1045, Ensign Bus Company
It had been arranged I would be picked up so it's only 5 mins round to the yard where the bus was parked up so I get my first of the vehicle in the tin.
 

 
So next step is to go upstairs, see the man in charge and get the documents. It's all paid for and he walks me back down in to the yard with a quick tour of the vintage motors they use for hires etc.
 
05/09/15,1115, Ensign Bus Company
As I step on to the bus I notice the battery isolator AND the "ignition" are on. As a result there is no power at all so he goes to get the start cart - 2 massive truck batteries on a trolley. He hooks them up but the batteries in the bus are so flat they hoover all the power out of the start cart and it still won't go. We also notice it won't start from the cab. Arse.
 
05/09/15, 1145, Ensign Bus Company
Now we've got 2 mechanics and a fleet service van in attendance but it's already past the time I wanted to be out of there. Their breakdown van's jump starter wouldn't do it so the decision was made by the man to put 2 brand new batteries in it. We also have to investigate why it won't start from the cab. Time to have a wander.
 

 

 

 
05/09/15, 1215, Ensign Bus Company
Right. The new batteries are in and the bus starts by jumping the starter but still nothing in the cab so it goes in to the workshop.
 
05/09/15, 1245, Ensign Bus Company (Workshop)
The fault was traced to a wire falling off the back of the start button so it's finally time to go. There's a fuel stop just down the road so I get it filled up. It took £150 from what was already in there and the man reckoned it would make it on one tank but I'm not going to chance it.
 
05/09/15, 1300, M25
Finally on the move I get a feel for everything. It drives nice enough but it has no power. Mr cms206 had already found out from the guy who drove it out of Stagecoach's yard that it was down on power with a misfire so I was kinda expecting it. Everything else seems fine though apart from a pet peeve of mine - the radiator fan is running all the time. Looks like my ears will be bleeding by the time I get home.
 
05/09/15, 1430, Northampton Services
 

 
I need to pee. And I'm curious to see how much fuel it has used. So I empty myself and I set about filling up the bus. It took £55 worth of diesel which works out at 9mpg. I had previously mentioned 14.4 in the live collection but I took the hub odometer to be reading in miles rather than KM.
 
05/09/15, 1530ish, M6 at Corley Services
OMG BUS SPOTTERS!!!
 

https://flic.kr/p/xmG92g
 
I had mentioned on the Facebook megabus group that I'd be heading north and at least one person was out waiting for me.
 
05/09/15, 1745, Forton Services
Again, I need to pee. I also need sustainance so it's inside to empty myself and get some chips. More fuel I think. Turns out it didn't need it - £93 this time from Northampton which works out at 8.44mpg.
 
Time for an obligatory fuel stop shot...
 

 
It's now pushing 1800 so it's time to get a move on.
 
05/09/15, 1940, Scottish Border
Finally we're in home territory. One thing that has annoyed me about buying this fucker from Essex is that it was sold off by Stagecoach approx 6 weeks ago from their Kilmarnock depot. I used to work there once upon a time as it's only 22 miles from home. Although that said it's turning out that because I'm getting the bus from Ensign cheaper than Stagecoach shifted it on for, it's still working out cheaper getting it from Essex than from Killie even with the travel and fuel costs.
 
05/09/15, 2115, Swift Coaches, Barrhead
Made it. It's dark so no arrival photos but I'll include day time shots with more details and a bit of history at the end. That said, the bus is now in it's new home but I still need to get to my regular residence. Mr cms206 is waiting in the yard for my arrival and gives me a lift back to his where my car is parked.
 
05/09/15, 2230, The House
Pretty much 17.5 hours after leaving the house I walk by through the front door and straight to bed 'cos I need to leave the house at 0530 the next morning for Chumly 2015.
 
No a kick in the arse off 437miles in a 25 year old bus with a misfire and poor fuelling in 8 and a bit hours isn't to be sniffed at. I'm extremely tired. I'm extremely sore. Was it worth it? I hope so. To be honest I was looking forward to getting it up the road but I wasn't as enthusiastic as usual about the journey as I knew it'd hurt 'cos I've not driven any form of bus in a while and the lack of power was dreadful at times.
 
There is much happiness about getting it up but I'll be much cheerier about it once the main things are sorted. Namely:
 
Misfire
Poor Fuelling
Gearbox load sensor needs checked
Radiator fan
 
After that it's getting it's destination screen reinstated and hopefully it'll be attending the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust open weekend on 10th/11th October if anyone's about.
 
Thanks to Ross, Paul and the mechanics at Ensign Bus for arranging the sale, the pickup at the train station and getting the bus going as well as not letting it go before it was sorted.
Thanks to cms206 for letting me in to the yard when I got there and for the lift up the road.
Also thanks to Daniel Mears and David Walker for being such bus pervs to catch me at Corley and at Barrhead. Only dark photos from Mr Walker though.
And as usual thanks to John Candy Promotions Ltd (A subsidary of SVM Road Cargo S.a.r.L (A subsidiary of SVM Air Cargo LLC (A subsidiary of SVM Industries AB))) for making sure the travel arrangements were done as cheaply and in as many steps as possible.
 
---ENDS---
 
-Dave
 
 
Appendix A - More Photos, Details and Specs
 
For anyone that's interested I'll try and gather a bit of history and details about the vehicle as most folk aren't bus bores so won't know what it is.
 
Make: Leyland
Model: Olympian ON3R
Bodywork: Walter Alexander (Falkirk) 'R' Type
Seated Capacity: 82 (Originally 94)
Engine: Cummins LT10, 10000cc, 245bhp
Transmission: ZF 4HP500 4 speed fully automatic with integral retarder and mitre drive
 
New to: Hong Kong Citybus (CTB)
Reg: ES3771 (Dual plated for operation in People's Republic of China)
Fleet #: 143
 

143_ES3771_904R_2002-10-05 by Cheung Hoffman, on Flickr
 
It was ordered new by CTB as an 11m express coach to operate services between HK and the PRC. It has a high speed differential which allows it to maintain a high top speed without stressing the engine. It was also one of the first vehicles to HK to have air conditioning driven from the main traction engine. During it's tenure as a CTB vehicle, CTB was bought out by UK based Stagecoach Group. Upon resale of CTB back to whoever it was in 2002/3, the agreement was that Stagecoach could bring back 50 vehicles for use on their new intercity coach network, megabus.com. ES3771 was one of them and became TSU638 (fleet number 13624) upon registration in the UK.
 

CTB 143 Stagecoach 13624 TSU638 by megabus13601, on Flickr
London Victoria Coach Station
 
There's not much history of it as a megabus vehicle. It seems that it first went to Cwmbran depot for services between Wales and London before it moved north of the border where it served as a Perth and Aberdeen vehicle but I don't know which was round it was. During this time it was down seated from 94 to 82 and provisions for luggage (racks and towbar) and a toilet were installed to allow longer distance, cross border runs.
 

CTB 143 TSU638 Stagecoach megabus 13624 by megabus13601, on Flickr
 
After it's time as a megabus vehicle, it was cascaded by the new Neoplan Skyliners and became a school bus at Stagecoach Western's Kilmarnock depot around 2008/9. Rather unusually, it retained it's megabus layout and was not fitted with seatbelts. It spent the rest of it's days at Stagecoach as a school bus (re-registered H987RKG) but bounced between Kilmarnock, Cumnock and provided emergency cover for a hastily gained school contract at Rennies of Dunfermline.
 

Stagecoach Western 13624 H987RKG by David Walker, on Flickr
 

13624 (H987RKG) Cumnock Depot by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr
 

At Rennies - https://flic.kr/p/nveDpZ
 
Finally in the summer of 2014 it was treated to a fresh coat of paint as well as a few bits and pieces for it's MoT. It's days ended at Stagecoach when East Ayrshire council stipulated that there were to be no more double deckers on school contracts. It was sold by Stagecoach to Ensign Bus (Dealer) where I gained it from. And that is that. It now resides in Barrhead at Swift Coaches' yard where Andy (cms206) is keeping an eye on it.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
So there we have it. An English chassis with Scottish bodywork, an American engine and German transmission bought for the Hong Kong market, repatriated to the UK for long distance express coach work, sold in Scotland to England and finally brought back to Scotland for preservation. I think that amount of history makes it quite interesting.
 
---ENDS---
 
-Dave.

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant. I love it.

[oldcars]

Enjoyed reading that cheers. Funny i said in your other collection thread that you should put your face on the back and do megabus! Its done it already. Shame the Leyland badge has gone missing. Good plate too, H......KG is the airport code for Hong Kong.

[garbaldy]

I love the gear selector, its like the space shuttle.

[skattrd]

Top work Dave. Good to see the full history of the vehicle as well.

[Jim Bell]

Epic correction.  I can only imagine how dismal motorwaying that ALL DAY must have been.  Drivers are not allowed transistor radios or flasks of tea for elfin safely reasons.

[Ghosty]

I'd love to see it in Chinese livery again - and hey, it's already yellow!

[davidfowler2000]

Epic correction.  I can only imagine how dismal motorwaying that ALL DAY must have been.  Drivers are not allowed transistor radios or flasks of tea for elfin safely reasons.

 

It certainly wasn't as good fun as a car collection. Mainly down to the lack of power on hills. I was down to 35mph on some parts of the M25 and the Scottish borders were horrific. A transistor radio would have been useless due to the noise from the radiator fan and a tea flask would have been crap 'cos it was quite warm coming up the road.

[beko1987]

Thats amazing! Great writeup too. Whats the plan now then?

[outlaw118]

LEGEND

 

Purfleet is literally 2 miles away from me....isn't it picturesque*?

[Lacquer Peel]

Interesting to hear about the history from manufacture to now, I guess that's part of the appeal of owning an old bus, everything is logged and bus enthusiasts have taken photos throughout its life.

 

What speed is it capable of cruising at in good order?

[Cavcraft]

Lovely stuff.

 

That's what Autoshite is for.

[DVee8]

That is a fantastic write up and great history thanks a lot.

 

Keep it coming

[beko1987]

You could start a mobile shitefest!

[davidfowler2000]

Thats amazing! Great writeup too. Whats the plan now then?

 

Restoration back to megabus condition after the mechanicals have been done.

 

What speed is it capable of cruising at in good order?

 

It's happy at about 65 but it'll run right off the 80mph clock.

[AnthonyG]

Class. It does need its Leyland badge back though. I wonder which megabus employee/bus botherer nicked it!

[Felly Magic]

You need to do a Rapunzel let down your hair scene via the upper deck emergency window LOL. Great shiteing, and hope you sort its mechanical tantrums soon

[Inspector Morose]

s'allright I suppose. It's no Trident though

[davidfowler2000]

You know you want a shot

[Inspector Morose]

Yes. Yes I do.

[beko1987]

I think for Shitefest next year we should all load in and see if we can do the llangollen to devils bridge scenic scottish approved* route fully loaded...

 

Then get will or neil to get it up the hill...

[davidfowler2000]

Yes. Yes I do.

 

I'll add you to the insurance if you get it running properly. It seems like a good engine with good compression so the main block and head are probably good. It just seems to be fuelling problems. I've been informed it blew an engine in it's megabus days, got a new one, blew that and then got another one on warranty from Cummins so it's probably not got a lot of miles on it.

[JohnK]

Great write up!

 

I'm a total anorak for looking through vehicle history and I particularly enjoyed your write up on the history, with accompanying photos.

 

I think your commitment to shite by doing this collection then back for Chumley on Sunday really does need to bé applauded!

[Inspector Morose]

I'll add you to the insurance if you get it running properly. It seems like a good engine with good compression so the main block and head are probably good. It just seems to be fuelling problems. I've been informed it blew an engine in it's megabus days, got a new one, blew that and then got another one on warranty from Cummins so it's probably not got a lot of miles on it.

Fuck. Pushrod injectors on that. Set up using dial gauges and all sorts of technical stuff I don't possess. I'll chip in on the insurance, it's safer!

[davidfowler2000]

Fuck. Pushrod injectors on that. Set up using dial gauges and all sorts of technical stuff I don't possess. I'll chip in on the insurance, it's safer!

 

I'll do a fuel filter first to see how it gets on but I suspect there will be a phone call to Cummins in the not too distant future.

[Inspector Morose]

There is an instruction video on the L10 on u tube somewhere. It's the leyland Lynx instruction vid. It might point you in some sort of direction.

[davidfowler2000]

There is an instruction video on the L10 on u tube somewhere. It's the leyland Lynx instruction vid. It might point you in some sort of direction.

 

Aye. I've seen that. The only thing I can really check is that it's getting full throttle and do a fuel and air filter change. Anything else requires special tools and test equipment. Also there is definitely a misfire so it will certainly need to be properly attended to.

[320touring]

Aye. I've seen that. The only thing I can really check is that it's getting full throttle and do a fuel and air filter change. Anything else requires special tools and test equipment. Also there is definitely a misfire so it will certainly need to be properly attended to.

MOAR BOOOÃ’OST should fix it;)

 

good effort- hope to see it in the flesh soon

[rml2345]

There is an instruction video on the L10 on u tube somewhere. It's the leyland Lynx instruction vid. It might point you in some sort of direction.

 

They do look quite complex in that video but it might at least give some sort of idea. After battering laptops trying to get recalcitrant C series lumps to run properly, I bet an afternoon with an LT10 would please the local Cummiuns tech fellas no end.

Autoshite must be the only car forum with mad collection capers that don't even involve cars.

[Noel Tidybeard]

please say you're gonna put the fishtank headlights back in cos them its got look gash

 

ps you sir are an crazy fool legend